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The Post Office has extended its contract for the contentious Horizon IT system by another year.
A further £41 million will be paid to Fujitsu, the Japanese-owned firm behind Horizon, to maintain its use until March 2027.
This accounting system is at the heart of the Post Office scandal, which saw over 900 sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted due to faulty Horizon software that falsely indicated financial discrepancies in their branch accounts.
A Post Office representative stated that the organization is “committed to moving away from Fujitsu and off the Horizon system as soon as possible.”
“We are bringing in a different supplier to take over Horizon while a new system is developed, and this process is well under way,” they added.
“We expect to award a contract for a new supplier to manage Horizon by July 2026, according to current timelines.”
BBC sources suggest the contract could be extended until 2028 to allow the new supplier to fully assume control of Horizon, which is used by sub-postmasters across UK branches.
However, a full replacement of Horizon remains distant.
The Post Office had been developing an in-house alternative called NBIT, but concerns grew over escalating costs and complexity.
NBIT was abandoned shortly after Nigel Railton, the new Post Office chair, initiated his business turnaround plan in November 2024.
Post Office leadership has since shifted to procuring software from external vendors, with a procurement process already underway.
A government spokesperson commented: “We are working as quickly as possible to ensure the Post Office has the technology it needs, including replacing Horizon, as a vital part of the company’s wider transformation.”
“The fact they still use the Horizon system indicates past under-investment, which can’t be rectified overnight, so we need to ensure postmasters have the tools they need to continue serving their customers in the interim.”
Fujitsu executives have apologized for the company’s involvement in the scandal, acknowledging that Horizon contained bugs, errors, and defects from its inception.
Paul Patterson, head of Fujitsu’s European division, admitted the company has a “moral obligation” to provide financial compensation, though no specific timeline or amount has been determined.
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A Post Office spokesperson says the Lichfield Street branch will close on 16 March.
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